Weekend Mani

Daytime

Ready for the weekend?!

The inspiration for this manicure came from Meliney's Pebble Nail Art tutorial. I wanted to try a black on black manicure but did not want to do the glossy over matte again for some reason.

I started with a fairly thick coat Orly Liquid Vinyl. While it was still wet, I scattered drops of  Color Club's Beyond on the nail. I tried to keep it random and the drops pretty close together. After about 5 minutes, I put on Seche Vite to help speed up the drying time. This manicure does take a little while to dry so be sure to give yourself time for that.

Have a great weekend!

Nighttime

Keeping It Simple

I totally changed my plans for this manicure after starting. I was going to stamp the orange nails, but I decided I liked it just the way it is instead.

I used Julep Marjorie and China Glaze Flying South as an accent on each hand. Simple and interesting.

Water Marble Wednesday

This is a water marble I did at the beginning of summer. Oh, wish we didn't have to say goodbye to summer but am also looking forward to fall colors.

I didn't record what polishes I used. Pretty sure Essie's Bikini So Teeny and Color Club's Over the Moon are in there.

Please excuse the mess. Blue is one of the hardest colors for me to clean up!

Color Club - Girl About Town Fall Collection

I got the Girl About Town Fall Collection from Color Club. I was playing around with it some and thought I would post the results. I like the colors. I think a few of them are really bright for fall. So I decided to see what would happen if I layered them a bit.

 Here I painted my thumb in 2 coats of The Uptown. I was surprised at how purple it was after applying it. Then I painted the following:

• index finger in Wicker Park
• middle finger in Silver Lake
• ring finger in East Austin
• pinkie in Pearl District

This is 2 coats each. I do really like Pearl District. I also really like Williamsburg, but I didn't use it for this experiment. It's too pretty to cover with anything but a top coat!

Another big plus for me with this collection is how easy it is to remove, especially The Uptown. You know what a mess some flake polishes can be to remove!

After letting these dry, I decided to see how they would each look with a coat of The Uptown. The pic on the left I took in normal lighting, and it picked up some of the differences in color. The pic on the right is in shaded sunlight which I think really shows better. (Forgive the messy manicure please! I was rushing a bit.)

I really liked the effect of The Uptown over Pearl District. It has a coppery look and you can see iridescence really well.

Another Metallic on Monday

Hope the weekend was good to all!

I'm not sure where I got the inspiration for this manicure. I stood looking at my collection of nail polish and decided I wanted to use these colors together. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out.

I used...

• Seche Vite Ridge Filler
• China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise (2 coats)
• China Glaze Rare & Radiant (1 coat)
• Color Club Kisment (for stamping)
• Sech Vite Top Coat

I like the end result. I catch different glimpses of the stamping as I move my fingers. Here are two views.

Nighttime View

Daytime View

Wild Weekend Mani

Woot! It's Friday! Weekend Mani time!

It's amazing what secrets nail polish has revealed in my family. For example, I have known my husband for 20 years and never had an inkling that he likes animal print. So off I went to find some animal print nail art! He loves it. His response was "Oh hell yes!"

I took inspiration for this mani from Mod Nails' Matte Leopard Nail Tutorial. I love the look and wanted to try to recreate it.

I used:

• Seche Vite Ridge Filler basecoat
• China Glaze - Fast Track (3 coats for coverage and I liked the slightly shimmery, tawny look)
• China Glaze - Mahogany Magic (for the spots)
• Julep - Fiore (for outlines of the spots and ruffian nails)
• Essie - Matte About You

I tried to freehand the ruffian nails. I probably won't do that again without a lot more practice. 

Maybe a zebra print next?

Wishing everyone a wild and wonderful weekend!

Sexy Stamping

This is my second attempt at stamping. I used China Glaze Go Crazy Red and stamped with Color Club Beyond. I thought the result was super sexy, great for a night out.

Water Marble Wednesday

I told you I love water marble nail art. Thanks to +Dearnatural62 and My Simple Little Pleasures for that! lol

I took inspiration for this water marble from a dress I bought not long ago. I love the colors and the design.

For this design, I used:

• Seche Vite Ridge Filler Basecoat
• Sinful Colors - Unicorn
• Essie - Meet Me at Sunset
• Essie - Wrapped in Rubies
• China Glaze - Hook and Line
• Seche Vite Top Coat

I'll probably try this again since I went a little crazy with adding dots to fill in the open space. I got tired and was getting messy with it. Still, I'm fairly happy with the result.

What do you think?

Taped on Tuesday

I decided to try some taping a while back. It's been a few months since I did this manicure. I did not write down the polishes I used, and I did a horrible job cleaning up. I thought I would share it anyway.

I started with a purple matte base. Then added the tape and did a purple gradient, quickly added a glossy top coat, and carefully removed the tape.

I like the results and might try this again soon in fall colors.

I have seen a number of manicures like these on YouTube, but be sure to check out superWOWstyle since she just posted one yesterday. Liked!

Metallic Monday

I've been toying with some metallic designs mostly because the husband likes them. I used Essie Licorice and No Place Like Chrome on these. I was going for an art deco look, but I'm not sure I pulled it off. I did learn a lot from trying this. I think I can get a cleaner line next time.

Thanks for looking!

 

Frivolous Friday!

Sometimes I channel my inner girly child, much to the dismay of my sons! Not long ago I did this manicure. I used Orly Bonder for the base coat. Then applied 2 coats of Essie's Bottle Service. Once that dried, I randomly dotted Essie's Boom Boom Room and DJ Play That Song. Followed up with Matte About You.

What do you think?

In sunlight

In the shade

Stamping Attempt

While I love water marble nails, I also became enchanted with stamping. I'm just not very good at it. This was my first real attempt. I have Wet & Wild French White Cream as the base color. Then I stamped over with Milani Sail Away. I might try this again since I have a little more practice with stamping.

Water Marble Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

I thought I would share the next two water marbles I did.

 This one was from PackAPunchPolish: STAR BURST WATER MARBLE NAIL ART TUTORIAL. It's a fun summery water marble. I of course smeared it a little bit and had a couple goobers of polish (particularly on the pinkie). I was better about clean up on this one. I taped my fingers so it would be easier. I also put cuticle oil on the back side of my nails to reduce clean up there.






This water marble I wore when my son tested for his green belt in Tae Kwon Do. My husband called it the "Avocado Mani". Yes, he is a stand up comic in his own mind. I really liked this manicure. It's hard to tell in the picture, but it has a jelly polish. I used the lightest shade of green as a base coat for this one.

A lot of my inspiration for water marbling also comes from My Simple Little Pleasures and Dearnatural 62.

I'll try to start posting what polishes I use. I haven't taken the time to go back and write down those I used for past manicures. Maybe I'll do that soon.

A Very Unskilled Enthusiast

When I was a young adult, I painted my nails with some frequency. I grew out of the habit as jobs ruined my nails. They would crack and break or the polish would chip. It just didn't seem worth all the extra effort to keep them looking nice.

Now that I work from home, I have fewer problems with my nails. So I thought I would go back to manicures. At first I had my nails done at the spa. Then I decided I wanted to change them more often without paying someone to do a sloppy job.

Well, now I have an addiction. I have too much polish (according to the family). I change my nails at least twice a week. I have more tools then I even knew existed at the beginning of the year.

I became enthralled with water marble for a while and still do some occasionally. Here was my first attempt:

Sorry for the quality of the photo. I like the manicure but wasn't thinking of starting a blog when I took the picture. I've gotten a little better with a lot of things since I took that picture. I'm better at clean up and a little better at pics too.

I'll be posting about other manicures along the way. Check back soon!